When May began, Aaron Altherr had only been with one organization since being drafted a decade ago. When he arrived in Queens on Friday, the outfielder was joining his third team in as many weeks.
After being dumped by both the Phillies and Giants in a 15-day span, Altherr was at his home in Arizona on Thursday, when he received a call from Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, and jumped on a red-eye flight to New York.
“It’s been a weird month for sure,” Altherr said.
It’s only getting stranger.
Entering Friday without a hit in 26 straight at-bats, Altherr crushed a pinch-hit, solo homer on his first swing with the Mets, becoming the 12th player in team history (and third this season, after Robinson Cano and Rajai Davis) to homer in his first at-bat with the franchise.
Just two days earlier, Davis took a 112-mile Uber ride to arrive just in time to homer in his first at-bat with the team. Altherr hit his first homer of the season following a sleepless cross-country flight, which landed around 7 a.m.
“I’d heard about that,” Altherr said of Davis’ shot, following the 9-8 loss to the Tigers. “There’s some kind of magic going on around here.”
Altherr needed some magic in an otherwise miserable month.
Altherr spent parts of six seasons with the Phillies — and posted a career year in 2017, when he batted .272 with 19 homers, 24 doubles and 65 RBIs in 107 games — but was designated for assignment on May 4 after opening 1-for-29 this year. The Giants claimed the 28-year-old, but dumped him eight days later, giving Altherr just one at-bat.
“I really haven’t gotten consistent reps,” Altherr said. “Just trying to get back to what I did in ’17. For me, it’s just a matter of getting opportunities, and getting consistent [at-bats].
“I know it’s just a matter of time before I get back to my old self.”
Friday, with two outs and the score tied in the sixth inning, Altherr came to the plate. Despite taking just three at-bats this month, the outfielder jumped on a second-pitch fastball from Buck Farmer for his third career pinch-hit home run.
“It feels really good,” Altherr said. “Obviously it helped me confidence-wise, made me feel better about myself. Hopefully I can continue to keep doing that and help this team win.”
It was a long day. It has been a long month.
“I’m a little tired,” Altherr said. “I’m gonna sleep well tonight.”